WOOLWICH

Woolwich residents adopted a $1.5 million municipal budget on Saturday at Town Meeting after approving more than 30 warrant articles.

Despite a decrease of $7,305 in this year’s municipal spending plan, Woolwich’s overall budget, which includes the town’s contribution to Regional School Unit 1 and county appropriations, reflects a net increase of $136,406 since last year.

According to a financial fact sheet given to residents on Saturday, the town’s county budget has increased $4,707 and Woolwich’s local share in RSU 1 has also increased $139,004, or 3.7 percent, from $3.7 million to about $3.9 million this year.

This could mean a four-cent tax rate increase if there is no change in the total taxable value, according to the sheet.

Woolwich’s tax rate is currently at $14.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. In this situation, the owner of a home assessed at $273,100 would pay $3,878.

On Saturday, residents also voted to appropriate up to $900,000 from the town’s undesignated fund balance to reduce the tax commitment, as well as an additional $20,000 from the balance to pay for abatements and applicable interest granted during the fiscal year.

With a 193-47 secret ballot vote, residents were also in favor of increasing the town’s property tax levy limit of $492,570, resulting in an overage of $111,172 with the approval of the $900,000.

In the future, Chairman David King said he and the selectboard hoped to work with state legislators to “see if we can’t get this taken off ” the warrant, as tax levy numbers are “20 years old, so it has no relevance today at all.”

“This is a law that’s still in the state books that requires us to do this every year,” he said. “But the state planning office is gone, so there’s nobody for us to report to.”

dkim@timesrecord.com

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